Nov 27, 2017

The world is normally its safest from Muslim terror when the Muslims are busy attacking each other. The Iran-Iraq war was the greatest example of this truism. For nearly a decade the Iranian and Iraqi military slaughtered each other on the battlefield. After the war ended, Iraq triggered the Gulf War by invading Kuwait, and Iran spread mischief around the around by sponsoring terrorism with its oil money.

The civil war in Iraq and Syria has been another period of quiet. Iraq has been so ravaged by internal conflict, it no longer matters on the world stage. Iran has been heavily involved in combating ISIS forces. Now that the groups allied with Iran have achieved victory, we are back to Iran becoming a global threat.

The nation facing the greatest danger from Iran is Israel. Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards will play an active role in establishing a lasting “ceasefire” in crisis-hit Syria, so says its chief commander, Mohammad Ali Jafari. He also said that there will be no disarming of Lebanon’s Hezbollah, which is financed by Iran.

“Hezbollah must be armed to fight against the enemy of the Lebanese nation, which is Israel. Naturally, they should have the best weapons to protect Lebanon’s security. This issue is non-negotiable,” said Jafari.

Top Israeli officials are very alarmed about forces under the control of Iran being so close to the Israeli border. A recent deal establishes a de-escalation zone in Syria’s southwestern region bordering Israel and Jordan, allowing Iranian-backed forces to operate as close as 3.5 miles from the Israeli-held Golan Heights. Israel has demanded the buffer zone with Iran be at least 25 miles wide, but the agreed-upon distances range from as little as 3.5 miles to 13 miles.

The Israelis have a good reason to be concerned about having Iranian troops near its border. Iran is the only nation that has a yearly Death-to-Israel day. It is only a matter of time before Tehran gains access to atomic bombs. When that day comes, the danger will not only be about nuclear-tipped rockets being fired from Iranian soil. Iran is now so close to its target, a nuke could be lobbed into Western Israel by means of a medieval cannon.

The more immediate danger is the inflow of weapons from Iran. As 2017 comes to a close, the Syria-Hezbollah-Iran alliance has made it possible for the first time in recent history for vehicles to drive from Tehran all the way to the Lebanese coast. Iran has already smuggled huge amounts of weapons into Lebanon through sea and air transports. Now armaments will certainly pour into the region like never before.

The U.S. has been totally ineffective in preventing what will likely turn into the third Lebanese war. Russian President Vladimir Putin has shut out Western diplomats on the so-called Syrian peace process. Putin is pretending to broker a deal that Iran and Turkey have already agreed to.

We are clearly drawing very close to the Gog war. The latest evidence of this fact came when Putin recently called on all “large-scale enterprise” to be ready to “increase military production” on a moment’s notice should the need arise. The Russian president said the following at a conference of military leaders in Sochi:

“The ability of our economy to increase military production and services at a given time is one of the most important aspects of military security. To this end, all strategic and simply large-scale enterprise should be ready, regardless of ownership.”

“Our army and navy need to have the very best equipment — better than foreign equivalents,” he said. “If we want to win, we have to be better.”

It is truly amazing to have reached the point where most of the key players in the Ezek. 38 & 39 invasion are camped out right at the point where they will attack Israel. When Russia set up permanent bases in Syria, there was no logical explanation for Putin’s deeper involvement in Syria. He gambled and won, but it could have easily turned into a quagmire. Now that Iran has announced it will establish its own military bases in Syria, it is clear that, just as Bible prophecy predicted, Satan is gathering the nations against God’s chosen people.

“For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land” (Joel 3: 1-2).

— Todd

Persia Prophecy Preparation?

My good friend, Bill Salus, published a book a few years back that continues to hold my fascination. The title is NUCLEAR SHOWDOWN IN IRAN: The Ancient Prophecy of Elam.

He presented a thorough treatment of a topic few, if any, writers about Bible prophecy have, to my knowledge, explored in recent times.

Today’s news headlines are dealing in serious concern with the most volatile area of the world at the moment. It is the same area of Planet Earth that has been the center of war, anger, and bloodshed for millennia. Bill Salus’ book, in my view of things that are developing, demonstrates a certain degree of prescience.

We have watched for a number of years the coalescing of military powers that look very much like the Gog-Magog force described by Ezekiel the prophet in chapters 38 and 39. We point out incessantly that this gathering to the north of Jerusalem and Israel looks to be a major part of preparation for fulfillment of Bible prophecy. This forming of Russia, Iran, and Turkey into an agglomeration that is an existential threat to the Jewish state, in combination with the convergence of many other prophetic signals, is well worth examination.

Ezekiel tells us this region of the Middle East he calls Persia will constitute a primary partner within the Gog-Magog coalition.

The news at the moment is particularly pointing the prophetic finger at Iran, ancient Persia. We begin by having a look at the forming alliance between the major players of the Gog-Magog force.

Moscow, Turkey and Iran are all sending symbolic messages to Washington that the Americans are out in the cold and the post-ISIS era may well be dictated by regional powers…

Turkish, Russian and Iranian diplomats will meet in Antalya on Sunday in the run-up to a major get-together in Sochi on November 22. The meeting is supposed to focus on Syria, but its real purpose is part of a larger effort by Moscow to illustrate its influence in the region…

According to Hurried Daily News, the foreign ministers from Moscow, Ankara and Tehran will meet in Antalya, followed a few days later by a meeting in Sochi between Vladimir Putin, Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Hassan Rouhani that is being billed as a “trilateral summit.” (Analysis: Russia-Iran-Turkey meeting is message to US – Middle East -Jerusalem Post Israel News, November 19, 2017)

The meetings between the prophesied powers is over the disposition of another prophesied power—Syria. The whole matter has Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu exercised considerably regarding the threat to Israel—another nation in prophecy about which you might have heard.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised on Tuesday that Iran would not gain a foothold in Syria by which to attack Israel. The premier spoke via video to American Jewish leaders just hours after Russia clarified it had no intention of pushing Tehran’s military forces out of the country. “Iran is scheming to entrench itself militarily in Syria.

“They want to create a permanent air, land and sea military presence, with the declared intent of using Syria as a base from which to destroy Israel. We are not going to agree to that. I have said very clearly that Israel will work to stop this,” Netanyahu told the Jewish Federation of North America’s General Assembly which is meeting in Los Angeles. “We must all work together to stop Iran’s aggression and its pursuit of nuclear weapons. If we stand together we will achieve it. But if we have to we’ll stand alone. Iran will not get nuclear weapons. It will not turn Syria into a military base against Israel,” the premier asserted. (BEWARE IRAN: PM Netanyahu vows Israel will act alone against Iran to destroy their nuclear capability if given no choice, JEWSNEWS, Nov. 13, 2017)

And that brings us to my admiration for Bill Salus’ expansive work on what looks to be a fulfillment of Bible prophecy in the making as I write this commentary.

Much of the Salus book involves the following prophetic passage. “‘But it shall come to pass in the latter days: I will bring back the captives of Elam,’ says the LORD” (Jeremiah 49:39).

Bill believes this is a prophecy yet future. God will make it possible for Christians to escape from this, one of the most hateful regimes on earth against those who name the Name of Christ.

He believes the forewarning is dire for those of Iran (Persia/Elam) who refuse to let God’s people go.

He describes the land of Elam.

The prophet Jeremiah issued an interesting prophecy that could involve Iran’s highly controversial nuclear program. The subject of Jeremiah’s prophetic utterances is Elam. During the prophet’s time, Elam comprised what consists of the central western portions of Iran today. Elam basically hugged much of the northeastern coastline of the Persian Gulf, while Persia encompassed much of today’s southern and eastern parts of Iran. It was bounded by Elam to the west and Media to the north. (Bill Salus, NUCLEAR SHOWDOWN IN IRAN: The Ancient Prophecy of Elam, chapter 3)

The author believes the prophecy indicates Iran’s prime nuclear facilities in Bushehr, a mountainous region, could be struck by Israel’s military force. He also thinks it could be struck by a major earthquake, nuclear disaster, or directly by the hand of God in a supernatural cataclysm. In any case, he believes, as I take it, that believers of the region will be freed to go into the world to carry the gospel in a mighty way.

Bill sees the prophecy about this region also as proclaiming that Elam’s military will suffer destruction. This, he believes, is found in Jeremiah 49:34-39.

The prophecy says that Elam’s “bow” will be broken. He believes this might mean that the missile launching capabilities might be destroyed. The arrows (missiles) can’t fly to their targets, if there is no launch facilities.

We have looked before at how the Gog-Magog force comes to destroy Israel, but it seems to be a conventional force, not one that involves nuclear weaponry. Certainly, To today’s Israeli prime minister and the Israeli people, this prophecy should be welcome news.

It is fascinating—and reassuring—to be a “watchman” while the Persian prophecy is in process of preparing for fulfillment.